A day outside Xela

Not literally, I'm still here. But figuratively. Or maybe it's "A day inside my own head." I was really relieved to finish Spanish classes, and then the weekend came and it was all social time (in English. It's not the way to learn Spanish. But it's easy. Debo de tener mas disciplina). Now that the weekdays are here, and I don't have class, I actually have a lot of time on my hands. So I started running again (actually I started Saturday), up this super steep hill (past Christo Viene, if you remember it from "Things I notice on the way to school") and then through farmer's fields of dirt (I don't know anything about farming, but it looks like they're prepping/planting fields for the rainy season, which starts in April). It's a really nice run, although the hill is brutal, like a 35 degree grade for half a mile or so, and I'm already at 7000 ft. so I need a break or two for that. Yesterday I went running for an hour, then went to the gym and did squats, core exercises, shoulders and deltoids. And then tried to go to the yoga class, which is two hours, but I had to leave halfway. My body was totally spent, I couldn't hold the forms, I was sweating like a pig and shaking like a mad-man. I heard someones watch beep, signaling 6 o'clock, halfway through. My heart sank. I toughed it out for 10 more minutes, but my legs and delts were so spent I couldn't hold the planks she puts us in every couple minutes. I learned a lesson about pushing too hard I guess. Today I'm going back to yoga, but that's all I'm doing. It's Zaynab's last day, so we went to the mall so she could buy a gift for Esperanza, and then we went to the Mennonite bakery. I don't think I've mentioned that, but there's a group of Mennonites (American ones I think, in Bolivia they were all German) who run this awesome bakery that's only open Tuesday/Friday. It's super cheap, all home-made, and has all sorts of goodies like donuts, moon pies, cupcakes, bagels, whole wheat bread, and yogurt. I got some energy bars of granola, honey, chocolate and dried fruit, yoghourt mora (blackberry yogurt), a chocolate donut with bavarian cream, and a pumpkin moon pie (basically two pumpkin cupcake tops with frosting inbetween).

Anyways, in a way it's good I've got all this time for a few days, because I've really got some shit to figure out. I've been accepted to take the oral exams for the State Department's Foreign Services program, so I need to arrange a place to stay, a flight, schedule a test date, etc. And study. The more I learn, the more I feel I need to learn. The exam lasts all day, and is broken into three sections. Like everything bureaucratic, each section and everything that could possibly be associated with the section has an acronym.

First is the Group Exercise (GE), where the entire class (4-6 people) is given a briefing on a hypothetical situation in a non-existent country, and given 30 minutes to prepare a project based on the hypothetical situation  Then each person presents their ideas on the project, and then you all discuss the best course of action.

Second is the structured interview (SI), where two assessors ask about your (i) experience and motivation, (ii) give you a hypothetical situation at an embassy and ask you to think on your feet, and (iii) ask about your past experience and how it fits with the Foreign Services.

Third is a case management (CM) exercise, where you are given yet another hypothetical situation in an embassy, and asked to write a memo proposing a response to the situation.

Throughout all three sections you are scored on 13 "dimensions": Composure, Cultural Adaptability, Experience and Motivation, Information Integration and Analysis, Initiative and Leadership, Judgement, Objectivity and Integrity, Oral Communication, Planning and Organization, Quantitative Analysis, Resourcefulness, Working with Others, and Written Communication. The examples listed in the OA guide are difficult: in the GE the example has to do with the construction of a recreation center in the host country, which would facilitate the purchase of US-built equipment, foster goodwill, and provide facilities for the nearby rehabilitation hospital. But wait, it would be in the department where the main political rival is based, so the project may insult the government, and the project wouldn't really benefit that many people, and besides would be based in a private university.

Here's the example from the SI:

Earthquake Scenario  

You are working in a small embassy in a developing tropical island country. Relations with the 

United States have been strained for some time, although the island is visited by increasing 

numbers of American tourists lured by its beautiful beaches, national parks and wildlife, and 

interesting archaeological sites. The island has experienced numerous tremors recently and ten 

years ago suffered a major earthquake, which destroyed the port and much of the capital city.  

 

You have been at this embassy for almost two years and are looking forward to moving on to 

your next post.  

 

When you first arrived at post, you worked in the consular section, which is responsible for 

assisting American citizens in distress and for issuing visas to host country nationals wishing to 

visit the United States. You then rotated for a stint in the management section, responsible for 

maintenance and upkeep of staff housing. You supervised the local Foreign Service National 

(FSN) staff charged with maintaining the embassy buildings and grounds. This past six months 

you have been working as the ambassador's aide, which required you to move to an apartment 

three blocks from the embassy.  

 

On a Saturday afternoon the communications officer has called you in to the embassy for an 

urgent incoming telegram that needs immediate action. As you enter the embassy gate, you 

see two FSNs enter the building. Walking toward the building, you feel a sudden jolt and 

immediately realize you are in the middle of an earthquake. You have difficulty standing, and 

see windows in the embassy shatter. Then the earthquake ends. What do you do?  

(possible responses: If appears safe, check on the FSN staff and help as needed; 

determine cable contents; inform ambassador and Washington; inform and 

motivate staff to take appropriate actions including finding out how much 

damage employee residences sustained; make sure someone checks on resident 

American citizens and American tourists.) 

The earthquake has knocked out electricity all over the city. Because of your in-country 

experience, the ambassador has asked you to lead the embassy's crisis response center. The 

city's only hospital requests fuel oil for its emergency generators, which will run out in a day. 

The embassy stocks emergency fuel oil to keep all embassy functions, including 

communications with the State Department, going continually for three days. What do you do?  

(possible responses: Determine exact embassy needs; seek alternate fuel 

sources; consult colleagues/staff on reducing fuel use; consult host government 

regarding hospital needs; consider establishing limited hours for communication 

operations; determine when embassy fuel can be replenished.) 

The earthquake hit residential areas hard, and many embassy officers and FSNs lack shelter. 

Building materials are scarce and the airport is temporarily closed. A local nightclub owner, 

known for his flashy life-style, offers building materials and labor to the embassy. The security 

office's head FSN reports that the businessman is rumored to be engaged in drug smuggling and 

strongly urges you to decline this offer. What do you do?  

(possible responses: Discuss offer with colleagues; determine facts in case, 

excluding hearsay; weigh only proven cons against pros of needed help; seek 

other sources of supply, including from U.S. embassies in neighboring countries; 

seek other housing options; contact the U.S. military to determine if they can 

transport portable housing units or building materials by ship or helicopter.)

Not so easy seeming, is it?

In the CM exercise, you're given a hypothetical situation at an embassy involving work orders and a petty quarrel between two embassy employees, and asked to evaluate and respond to the situation. I'm not going to list it, because between Blogger's shitty formatting and mac's shitty ability to let me cut and paste, I'm just not interested.

Anyways, I've got a lot to think about for the test. Also, I got a response from the University of Leiden, in The Netherlands. I've been accepted into their Masters in Industrial Ecology program. I'm supposed to reply within two weeks, but they haven't said anything about financial aid. I had asked to be considered for the school's financial aid program, but there was no mention at all in the email or letter I received. The school costs about $21,500 a year, plus living expenses. Financial aid may cover anywhere from 2500 euro to a full ride plus 10,000 euro a year for living expenses. I'm not sure I can properly assess the offer without knowing my financial aid status. Also, I'm still waiting to hear back from NTNU (Norwegian University of Science and Technology). I was expecting to hear back from each by the end of April, but maybe since I got my app in so early to Leiden they processed it quickly (the NTNU deadline was Feb. 1st; Leiden's was April 1st). NTNU is the better of the two schools, and is also free if I get in (I just have to cover uber-high living expenses). Given the choice, I would go to NTNU, get the stronger degree, and be free of debt and worry.

In short, I really don't know what's going on when I get home, and am a little pissed off at myself for eating up vacation time worrying about it.

Family update: Abuelita isn't as cheery as I had first thought; she seems mighty grumpy a lot of the time. Not sure if this is because of the slew of strangers in her home, or if she's in the "just let me die" phase of being old. There is a hilarious picture of her on a camel in the television/Virgin Mary Shrine room though, a younger version with a giant grin on her face. I keep forgetting to ask about it. Esperanza continues to be super friendly, oftentimes downright girlish. I get the impression that before she played host to so many gringos, she watched a lot of tele novelas, because she seems to always be trying to get us to live out the lifestyle - going out late, bringing girls or boys home, dancing salsa with the locals. She loves to make jokes about the various room mates hooking up. I didn't come home the other night, and when I got back for breakfast, she said "oh wait, Devin, I think you have a hair stuck to the side of you there, a blond one I think..." I didn't know what was going on, and just said, "oh, really? Where?" She looked so dead-pan serious, and was leaning over as if to pluck a hair from my shoulder, and then she started grinning and we all started laughing. Geraldo doesn't work at Electronica Israel quite as much as I thought at first, it's more like 8 hour days 5 days a week plus the half-day on Saturday. But he also cobbles shoes at night, as well as doing most of the construction and maintenance on the house. The family home, like many houses that rent rooms in Xela, is constantly being built upwards to accommodate additional renters. I feel like I don't see Jason and Roni nearly as much as I did my first week, so that's all I have to say about them.

Zaynab is gone, but I may see her in San Pedro or Nebaj. Alleen is still here, slowly beginning to speak some Spanish, although her southern accent plays hell with her ability to pronunciate. Not sure if I mentioned the new couple, Barbara from Maryland and Ahmady from Timbuktu, Mali, but they're around. I'm not sure if they're the shut-in type couple that does a lot of stuff alone, or if Barbara just keeps Ahmady on a really tight leash. There's been a couple times when it looked like they were going to come out for beers or whatever, and especially that Ahmady wanted to go, but then after a few minutes to themselves in their room Ahmady might come out and say "I think I'm tired, I think I'll stay in tonight." And then this morning Ahmady asked if I was going to go for a run, we had been talking about going together since we had both been running, but Barbara said "we should get to the library by 9." It was 8:30. So much for that. Ahamdy was in the States to study, and that's how he met Barbara (they're married now); he has a masters degree in finance and she studied international relations I think. We also got a new kid yesterday, Kuni from Japan (I spelled that phonetically, apologies in advance to any Japanese readers or anyone who actually has any idea about how to write Japanese names in Roman script). He doesn't speak any Spanish, and very little English, so I don't know too much about him yet, but he's got one more year of architecture school, and he's traveling in Guatemala and Mexico for 3 weeks. Ahmady knows a little Japanese from his study of karate, which really pleased Kuni. Asians seem really impressed and happy when westerners take an interest in their language and culture. Maybe that's because so few do, while they're always trying and expected to learn about western language and culture. But it's something I saw in Asia a lot, how pleased they would be if you could speak a few words and knew how and when to bow.

Plan update: there's supposed to be a big party in San Pedro this weekend, and the rugby boys (Ed and Scott) may be going, and Zaynab is there, so I might go to the Lake (Atitlan) next, then Nebaj. And I'm thinking of hopping up to Tikal to see the ruins. Alleen went and the pictures are amazing. There's a couple of spots on the way that I'd like to see, but then I might fly back to Guatemala City before heading south to Sipacate.